


red, take us home

by avintageoilpaintingofyou



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Confrontations, Keith's connection to red is still there bitch fight me, M/M, Missing Scene, Shiro's mentioned - Freeform, lance and Keith hug and that's literally all I need, right after s4, the klansgt we need tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 01:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14345220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avintageoilpaintingofyou/pseuds/avintageoilpaintingofyou
Summary: [Set literally right after S4]Lance felt when Keith was about crash into the forcefield.He and Red save him.





	red, take us home

**Author's Note:**

> this is set right after red and lance save keith 
> 
> I love angst :)

 

“You could’ve died!”

 

“It doesn’t matter!”

 

_I don’t matter._

 

Suddenly Lance’s face screwed up in an emotion Keith couldn’t place. His eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes on the floor.

 

Then, without warning, Lance’s eyes met his and they were sparked with something akin to fury.

 

Lance opened his mouth, his voice low and threatening, “What the hell are you talking about?” Silence. “Is that what they’re teaching you up there? That you don’t matter?”

 

Keith froze, and a certain fear curled up in his chest, he couldn’t help but feel he’d been found out somehow.

 

Keith couldn’t meet his eyes, he didn’t respond. His arms firmly crossed on his chest.

 

“Keith, buddy,” Lance whispered, desperate, his voice softer, “look at me.”

 

Keith didn’t realize he had been tearing up until he met Lance’s blurry face. He blinked the blurriness away, a few tears rolled down his cheeks.

 

His eyes met Lance’s face with an openness he hadn’t quite seen before, and it made his chest ache. And suddenly it felt like everything from the past few months with the Blade, all the secretive and sternness and loneliness and pain had worked its way up to the forefront of his mind. Looking at Lance’s face was a reminder that he wasn’t alone in carrying the world on his shoulders, even though he had chose this path with the Blade they were all still fighting the war.

 

Keith opened his mouth to say something, anything.To defend himself, to say it wasn’t true, to lead Lance off a track that he was definitely right on.

 

He was surprised when he found words trying to work its way up his throat before he could stop them. His words were thick with a type of tiredness that was bone deep, but he pressed forward.

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Old habits die hard.

 

Lance’s eyes narrowed as he mirrored Keith’s stance, his face almost saying _so that’s how we’re gonna play it, huh?_

 

A smile made its way on to Lance’s mouth, but it was anything but kind.

 

“I don’t know what I’m talking about?” He laughed, it was cold and Keith flinched. Lance took a step forward, leering. Everything told Keith to turn back, to run away, the vast expanse of space seeming a lot more inviting than this conversation right now.

 

Keith leaned back, but now he couldn’t look away, his eyes stuck on Lance in a way a prey would look at its predator before it pounced.

 

“Lance, I-“ he tried, his voice tired and stiff, but Lance cut him off.

 

“No, uh uh, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to skirt around this,” his voice was trembling with rage as he met Keith’s eyes, “You almost died, Keith. Do you know how much that hurts?”

 

( _Hurts?_ What does he mean ‘hurts’?)

 

A flash of confusion crossed his face.

 

Keith swallowed, trying to keep his tears at bay, his heart was thumping wildly, he couldn’t handle this conversation right now, he couldn’t—

 

“You know how I knew you were even in trouble?” Lance trying a different approach.

 

Keith managed to shake his head, though he knew deep down that it was—

 

“Red. She told me.”

 

The moment Lance mentioned her, her presence was almost suffocating. Overwhelming power encased Keith’s mind, pushing. He fought it back, letting out a weak _‘No._ ’ It was an invitation, a comfort— He couldn’t do it, he take her back, no, she was Lance’s now. That was the whole reason he’d done this. Lance was more deserving, stronger, kinder—He was a loner, an orphan, always destined to be—

 

As if she was talking to him now Lance closed his eyes, his face changing into something soft. Silence lingered for more time than Keith liked. Lance finally opened his eyes.

 

“Keith,” Lance whispered, heavy but so _tender_ , "you're not alone."

 

The cockpit of the lion felt small and cramped and he felt like he couldn’t breathe and he felt hot and sticky with sweat and—

 

A sudden calmness soothed over him, then—

 

It felt like someone was taking the pressure off, that someone—he stared up at Lance. Lance hadn’t looked away from him, “I felt it.”

 

Keith couldn’t look away, his voice thick, “What?”

 

“When you were about to do it.”

 

Keith froze, he wanted to look anywhere but him, but Lance wouldn’t let him. God, if only he died so he didn’t make Lance look and feel like—

 

“Stop that.”

 

Keith looked up at him, the question almost out of his mouth when—

 

“Stop it right now,” then those tears were back, it made Keith’s heart constrict. “You don’t think I can feel it? You don’t think I know—“

 

“Lance, you don’t understand-“ he tried weakly.

 

But that just made Lance push harder, “You don’t think I understand?! Oh _that’s_ rich,” he scoffed, but then his voice was suddenly softer and that somehow that made it so much worse, “You really don’t think I know how you feel right now?”

 

That stopped Keith short, but Lance kept going.

 

“The Red Lion is still bonded to you.”

 

Keith always knew but he couldn’t feign his surprise.

 

Lance laughed darkly, “Yeah, so whenever you got hurt or you were in trouble I could feel it,” Lance stopped for a moment, letting it sink in.

 

Keith could only stare.

 

“And _fuck_ , Keith, it hurt. That we couldn’t get to you,” Lance shook his head, _fuck it_ , “that _I_ couldn’t get to you and help you with whatever it was.”

 

Keith tried to speak up but Lance wouldn’t let him.

 

He laughed, “And I didn’t care, I didn’t care if it was Zarkon himself, whenever I felt that pull it took everything in me not to go.” Lance looked at him, almost bitterly, “You made your choice,” he looked vehemently at his suit as if it was the suit itself that made him leave. 

 

“But why—“ _did you want to help me?_

 

(I was gone. I left you, I abandoned you, I-)

 

The question made Lance’s heart ache.

 

“We’re supposed to be a team,” he said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 

Keith just stared, barely being able to believe it, after all he’d done, after all—

 

“No,” Lance almost growled, cutting off Keith’s train of thought. Lance could feel that too. It was like a knife turning into his gut. Painful and hot, and he could’ve sworn he’d seen red. “You don’t get to do that. Just because you left the team, doesn’t mean you left the family.”

 

Keith stopped.

 

“Lance, I—” Keith whispered pathetically, now it taking all his strength to even speak. His rough voice and harsh. He rubbed his eyes, “Fuck, I don’t want to cry.”

 

Lance hummed in acknowledgement, then said, “You’re not all Galra, Keith. You’re still human. You’re allowed to feel.”

 

( _It's okay_.)

 

Keith worried his bottom lip, looking anywhere but him.

 

_No, I don’t deserve it—I’m with the Blade—I’m worthless—the Blade don’t show emotion—I’m worthless. I’m worthless—_

 

“Keith,” Lance whispered, laced with fear—sadness—Keith honestly couldn’t place it.

 

Keith dared to look away for only a moment, but he broke, and now tears were falling freely and everything was hitting him at once.

 

He wouldn’t be in this cockpit if Lance wasn’t fast enough.

 

(Red? Not fast enough? Unheard of.)

 

That he wouldn’t be hearing his voice. That he wouldn’t be hearing any of their voices ever again.

 

He would have let his only brother down, that he would’ve let the whole team down— the whole universe—it was too much.

 

Keith sucked in a breath, trying to regain himself, but it was too late. The dam broke. And before he could even think about it he

 

(Wobbled? Stumbled?)

 

over to Lance and held him in a grip that was so tight it could break bones, but he didn’t care.

 

Lance held him back with the same ferocity, and if Keith felt hot tears stain his neck too, then they didn’t talk about it.

 

“I’m sorry,” Keith whispered. Lance just gripped him tighter.

 

The next words Keith heard out of Lance's mouth was a command. “Red, take us home.”

**Author's Note:**

> listen,,, idk what this is, this has been sitting in a doc for a few weeks and I felt like I had to put it somewhere
> 
> thank you for reading this ily 
> 
> scream to me abt klance on my tumblr idk how to link so here
> 
> http://mightaswellcry.tumblr.com


End file.
